Arsenal 2-1 Wolves: Odegaard’s goal of the season (so far) and sloppy Zinchenko – The Athletic

Another home game, another win for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side are four points clear at the top of the Premier League – although perhaps only for 24 hours as Manchester City play Tottenham tomorrow – after excellent first-half goals from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, both of whom The result of a quick, subtle passing game was exchanges and Wolves were knocked aside.

While Wolves caused some nervous moments at the end with Matheus Cunha’s well-taken goal, Arsenal held on. The only blemish on Arsenal’s day was that Takehiro Tomiyasu limped off the pitch late on with an apparent calf injury.

Here we analyze the most important topics of discussion.

Premier League – League leaders

Did Odegaard score Arsenal’s goal of the season so far?

When Saka’s cross from the right found its way to the other side of the penalty area, it looked like Arsenal’s attack had stalled.

Oleksandr Zinchenko had a different opinion. The left-back charged towards the ball with a speed that suggested he was about to fire it back into the box, but that was just the cover. At the last second, he finished the ball with his foot and played it into the feet of Gabriel Jesus, who had moved away from the goal.

Nelson Semedo was caught off guard and while he stopped, Zincheno continued his run down the line. The ball came to Jesus quickly, but he managed to see the angle and, for the first time, made a cushioned pass back into the path of Zinchenko.

It looked like a ball would go over the goal, but Zinchenko was aware that Odegaard had cleverly maintained his position on the edge of the penalty area.

Despite the picture changing so quickly, Zinchenko pulled the ball back for Odegaard to attack him for the first time. It would have been easy to make a mistake, but he used the pace he already had on the ball to easily get it home, which has become a trademark of the Norwegian.

With a total of 18 passes, it was the best goal Arsenal have scored this season. Arsenal haven’t scored a single goal in the Premier League this season.

Perhaps the only rival was Saka’s opener seven minutes earlier, Arsenal’s 100th goal in all competitions this calendar year and one that underlined a renewed desire to reach the penalty area from distance even during double attacks.

Saka creatively pushed the ball to the right to create pressure before launching the ball through the gap created. Jesus pushed the defender with his back to goal and his excellent footwork ensured Saka got the ball back as he ran in.

How valuable are early goals for Arsenal?

So far this season there has been a feeling that the game will be exciting if Arsenal don’t score early.

Arteta pointed out that the “state of the game” was a big factor in their game not being as fluid and teams lining up in a low block the longer the score remained level.

Arsenal scored 19 goals in the first 20 minutes of play last season, but Saka’s goal against Bournemouth was the only time they did so in the first 13 league games this season. The floodgates opened that day and when he repeated the trick in the sixth minute against Wolves it had a similarly calming effect.

Arsenal’s earliest PL goals this season

Arsenal created enough chances to score four or five goals in a largely one-sided first half. Leandro Trossard saved a shot from Jose Sa, Gabriel Martinelli crashed against the post and Jesus missed two clear chances.

Will Zinchenko’s sloppiness become a big problem?

Everything seemed so comfortable for Arsenal, but then, in the 86th minute, Zinchenko had one of his mishaps.

The Ukrainian had run to his teammates during a break in play just a few minutes earlier to ensure calm as the win was already in the bag. But as Declan Rice fended off an attack in his own penalty area, Zinchenko dawdled on the ball and Cunha parried it away to fire it into the top corner.

It’s the kind of relaxed playing that often undermines Zinchenko’s polished performances. However, this wasn’t the only time he was at fault, as in the first half he came into coverage but lost the ball and had to be saved by Martinelli.

Oleksandr Zinchenko was guilty of some bad mistakes (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)

Another time he was involved in a mix-up where David Raya had to make a one-on-one save. When the ball came back to him on the edge of the penalty area, he was too relaxed instead of clearing it and lost it again.

For such an intelligent player, these lapses in concentration give the opposition a boost that had not been there before and caused unnecessary headaches for Arsenal – whose defensive work, particularly in pressing, was largely exemplary.

What did Mikel Arteta say?

The Spaniard revealed that Tomiyasu had been withdrawn due to leg pain.

“He felt something,” he said. “I don’t know if it was fatigue. We immediately decided to change and didn’t want to take any risks. Let’s assess him and see how he does.”

Arteta looked generally pleased with his side’s victory, although frustration that the result wasn’t more emphatic was still present.

“Football isn’t perfect but I’m really happy with the way we played,” Arteta told the BBC. “It should have been a much bigger result. We made a mistake and they take the chance and the Premier League game continues.

“We had chances and didn’t convert them, but we kept trying. We had some great chances to finish the game.

“We have to keep winning games and performing the way we have. That’s the challenge, to continue to do that every three days because we have another important game in Luton (on Tuesday).”

What’s next for Arsenal?

Tuesday, December 5th: Luton Town (A), Premier League, 8:15 p.m. GMT, 3:15 p.m. ET

Arsenal travel to Kenilworth Road for the first time since December 1991 – when a George Graham-managed side comprising David Seaman, Tony Adams, David Rocastle and Ian Wright lost 1-0 as defending champions of the old First Division. Luton was something of a bogeyman for Arsenal at the time: they had not beaten them in ten attempts since January 1984 and were also defeated 3-2 when the clubs met in the 1987/88 League Cup final.

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(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images))